19 killed in avalanche on Pak-Afghan border

At least 19 people were killed by an avalanche while crossing a remote mountain pass from Afghanistan to Pakistan, said Taliban official.

Head of information for eastern Kunar province, Najibullah Hassan Abdal said,  “Nineteen bodies have been recovered,” adding that rescue workers were still searching at the scene of the avalanche. 

Scores of Afghans cross illegally to Pakistan every day through the porous mountain border in search of jobs or to buy essential goods for trade. 

Illegal traffic across the Pakistan-Afghan border has soared since the Taliban returned to power in August—plunging the country into a severe crisis with tens of thousands of people made jobless. 

In the meantime, Pakistan is attempting to fence the entire 2,670-kilometre frontier, known as the Durand line for the British colonial administrator who first drew it. But deadly avalanches are common in the area.

In 2015 more than 250 people were killed across the country in a series of devastating avalanches. 

In April 2007, at least 30 people died in the central Afghan province of Daikundi and seven in Herat, in the west.